Damned!

The Village Voice

Cheryl was exhausted. She had stayed up late into the night revising and typing the investigative report on the Watershed Project. To say that she was not pleased was an understatement.

Cheryl whipped through the pages one more time. The details of how the dollar amount had been cut from the original contract, how the renovation of the apartment building for the Gandan people was never completed but the relocation schedule had been pushed forward as a result of the Watershed project being vamped up were clearly defined. This was sure to engage outrage.

Despite all the evidence and the pressure from Ein to publish it, she had balked when she got the call yesterday.

"Ein, it is too soon. We don't have all the information or connections. The info that has been submitted will link only Tannebaum's as having an information error. President Hoveting, Mayor Mignon, Archbishop Dominez, Chandler Simmons, will get off scotfree."

Ein pressed further, saying they were running out of time if they wanted to prevent an all-out war in Medium Cruces.

"Okay, I know, but this is not how we usually do journalism in The Village Voice. I don't like it and I'm warning you for the next time you ask us a favor."

Cheryl was more than upset. She made a note to call Thomas and made him promise to not let this one go, she needed to get more information linking the capitol's involvement. Thomas had got her into this mess, he needed to produce more; and coming up to the election year, this was an opportunity she could not miss. In the meantime, she agreed, the story would need to go out. Ein had sent her the photos. The excavators were there at Medium Cruces and bound to be moving along the river's bank today or tomorrow.

"The people are setting up camp and I know there's going to be a confrontation. If you want more info, get a reporter down here. In the meantime, I promise all my photos will go to you first; but I need you to be ready to print the backstory today."

The story would headline with the photo of the excavator's and there was no doubt this would cast a shadow on President Hoveting. This win would be the second term for Hoveting, and most people agreed his first term had been less than illuminating. Even those who voted for him saw little change enacted to strengthen the economy. Instead, many companies had left the country due to weak trade agreements. Touting The Jungle Watershed Project as a job savior would be a lie, as the project added just a miniscule number of jobs, yet the press secretary was quoting Hoveting as saying it was one of the significant opportunities to relieve joblessness this year.

Cheryl hated the outcome that would come from the early printing. Once again, the culprit who was most to blame would be the small guy. Once Hoveting's lawyers had circumvented the legal system, with their lies of deniable accountability, it would be Tannebaum's that would take the biggest hit. They may even have to close down, a prospect she was not sure the employee whistleblowers had thought about, - or else they had been exceedingly brave. If they only had more time, she would have investigated all the way to the capitol, but time was not an item that could be delayed.

Silently, she vowed to not let this one go.

In the meantime, all she could do was wait, watching the burner phone Ein had lent her.